(a) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to apparatus and methods for maneuvering the ends of pipes, such as an underwater pipeline or portions thereof in such fashion that the ends thereof may be brought into axial alignment or at least the axes thereof brought in intersecting alignment so as to facilitiate subsequent interconnecting of the two pipes.
(B) Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore, it has been customary practice to manipulate the ends of two underwater pipe sections into perfect axial alignment by mounting a single frame extending over both pipe ends. However, this method required a single large frame of massive construction and size, capable of physically and simultaneously grasping and forcing the pipes ends into perfect axial alignment after which the pipe ends are interconnected by conventional coupling means. However, the aforesaid method required a huge frame or the like which is difficult to maneuver and quite expensive to build and operate.